sparks and flames
by Mirror Of Words
Summary: he's a guy trying too hard to sweep a refined lady who's already head over heels for that doofus off her feet. Ahh, if only they'd realise. Five witness accounts of the ever odd relationship between Kamui Gakupo and Aoki Lapis throughout their life together, on how it sparked and ignited into lustrous flames the idiot of the two would have his hair catch fire with. -Gakupo/Aoki


**Warnings**: suggestive themes, somewhat confusing storyline that needs fixing

A/N: It is five in the evening and I am now wide awake. To explain, I finished this at two in the freaking morning and posted it before sleeping (and promptly waking up two hours later for school).

Now then! This fic is for a very special friend of mine, who pioneered Gakupo/Aoki into me (solely because the two are her fave Vocas) and requested this. She wanted a vampire/human kind of fic, but I couldn't handle it and went with this. Sincere apologies orz.

It's not a very Halloweeny fic, but mine will be up on the eleventh because the deadline for a contest was stretched and I have more time to procrastinate. Inspiration for this fic came from a Vanitas/Ventus fic for Kingdom Hearts titled The Eyes of A Spectator. If you're into that, I recommend it dearly, because it is a lovely fic.

Without further ado, enjoy! Don't hesitate to leave a review with your thoughts. This one's for you, Cake.

* * *

**sparks and flames**

He's a guy trying too hard to sweep a refined lady who's already head over heels for that doofus off her feet. Ahh, if only they'd realise. Five witness accounts of the ever odd relationship between Kamui Gakupo and Aoki Lapis throughout their life together, on how it sparked and ignited into lustrous flames the idiot of the two would have his hair catch fire with.

...

"_He's always trying his best for her. She might not know it - come on, he's all creepy stalker like on her - but he is, and he'll always do so._" -Kamui Gumi, "Loving Sister"

...

"Big brother."

She can see her brother tensing up as he hears her voice, shoulders shifting upwards and stiffening, a jolt from her menacing glare shocking his whole body, his poor, pitiful self shaking uncontrollably as he turns around and faces his younger - repeat, _younger_ - sister with a shaken smile upon his face.

"G-G-G-Gumi! Oh, what a wonderful surprise! Isn't it lovely to see you here today!" The purple-haired idiot laughs - why, oh why can't he be the big brother he's supposed to be, just look at the way he's shrinking under her gaze - smacking her back and patting her head quite awkwardly. "I know you like free hugs and all, but I am pretty busy today because I have a paper to rush and I owe Kaito ice cream coupons so I'm really gonna have to go now and - "

"You're hopeless, aren't you?" She sums up his predicament in four words - technically the former two is already enough to do so; there is no room for doubt in such a situation - and her brother slumps down in defeat. She folds her arms and sighs, patting his shoulder and urging him to stand up.

"It's no use, _Gumiiii_!" The senior wails, hugging her arm to his face right there in the middle of the freaking hallway, attracting dubious looks from all around the place. "I'm useless! Lapis will never notice me!" She grits her teeth and delivers a solid punch to his face, hoping she had knocked a few unneeded fillings loose with it.

"Honestly. Of course she's not noticing you. No-one wants to acknowledge a stalker protruding her life, especially a sucky one like you," she spits out venomously. he cringes, but submits to her scoldings anyway. It's the complete opposite, though. She knows from her miniscule amount of conversations with the girl that she completely fawns over her idiot of a brother.

"I'm not stalking her," he whimpers as a start. "Besides, how would she notice me if I don't do this? Haven't you seen all those shows? The girl quietly following the boy gets noticed by him and gets her feelings returned, and then there's romantic bubbles and sparkles and - "

"Firstly, I hope you're not talking about Mirai Nikki. Yuno Gasai is the very epitome of what a true stalker should be - which, by the way, is kind of the position you're leaning against as of the moment." She sighs, pulling her dear brother up from his "needy of pity" position. "Secondly. All you need to do is go up there and ask the girl for her hand! C'mon, you're a knight, aren't you? Show her some guts! No-one wants a sack of bones and tears like you."

"And I can't see how the devil's incarnate - ahem, my sister - managed a boyfriend who accepts her," he grumbles, but one glare silences the whimpering creature without the least bit of effort.

"Just do it," she urges. "C'mon. You'd do anything for her, wouldn't you?" A whimper of "yes..." is the response she receives. "Go on, then! Show her your stuff! I'm sure she'll return your feelings if you're brave enough to confront her with them."

He seems to receive a boost from her tiny pep talk she's provided him, as cerulean orbs spark with blue flames as he salutes the greenette with utmost admiration. "Aye, aye!" He roars, and with a dash he runs toward the girl, roaring like some random idiotic anime character. Sure enough, this scares the girl and a number of persons near her away, and exactly three seconds later does he return a whimpering heap in front of her.

"Do it," he whimpers. "I know you're a demon in disguise. Sacrifice me to your great demon Lordy. I have no more reason to live."

A kick in his gut tells him all he needs to know and more.

...

"_The girl's always trying to get him to know that she likes him. How adorably idiotic. She can be that oblivious not to notice that he too likes her and he's not just being oh-so gentlemanly. Pfft." _-Akita Neru, "Deadpan Snarker"

...

"Lapis! Here, let me get that for you. Stay put."

"Huh? Ahh, um, alright, if that's what you wish... You don't really need to, though, I can - "

"It's not my wish, dear. It is my _purpose! Victory cry _- !"

The blonde raises an eyebrow at the not-so peculiar sight. The Lapis girl stares dreamily at the purple-haired idiot as he rushes through the crowd to get the girl of his dreams a carton of orange juice, cutting the queue - "_Through fire and water!_" The idiot screams, _"as well as my little sister!" -_ and promptly being disciplined by none other than his sister. It's actually quite an amusing sight. In fact, a video of this madness would make an astounding profit on YouTube...

And the girl is still staring at the traces of the beaten-up Kamui (tears equivalent to he amount of that needed to give the floor a good ol' scrubbing) dreamily. Even from the distance, she can see the sparkles in her eyes.

"Hey," she confronts the girl with a pat in the shoulder, almost scaring the living daylights out of the aqua-haired girl.

"A-Ahh? Oh, N-Neru... hello." She greets shyly. She's almost like a petite fairy. She might as well be.

"Admit it," she leans over and whispers in her ear as if she's spreading the biggest gossip in school, "you're head over heels for that idiot, aren't you?"

"H-Huh?" Typical response from the shy girl; she's flailing about as if she's drowning in water, then grabs her by her shoulders and shakes her almost maniacally. "No! Wait! You like him too, don't you? No! I don't like him, anyway! I, um, yes! That's all! It's nothing!"

"W-Whoah, girl, calm down, there," she says, breaking free of the girl's grasp and steadying her mushed-up mind. "Seriously, though! It's obvious enough that you like him, Aoki, you can't lie to me. Besides, I'd rather throw myself dunk my head in today's cafeteria special than have that doof falling in love with me." When the girl squirms, Neru relishes in it, letting out a Cheshire Cat grin. "Let's see, oh, how you convince him of having lunch with you, how you have him walk home with you, how you get him to stay back with you under the guise of teaching you Maths when it's you who ends up teaching him anyway..."

"Huh? Wha... No! That never..." The blonde's victorious smirk convinces her that her negotiations fell on deaf ears. "...h-how did you know?"

"Never underestimate the Neru." She replies with a grin, seating herself beside the girl and watching Gakupo lining up for what Lapis wanted - by the looks of it, there wouldn't be anymore orange juice by the time he got there. "Why'd you like him, anyway? Others would rather date someone like Piko in a heartbeat. Not that's he's not cute or anything, y'know, just saying. I mean Piko, not Gakupo. That man is hopeless."

"Hmm..." She seems uncomfortable with the constant pressing, but Neru wasn't going to let such juicy secrets go down the drain. She could picture the header of her new gossip blog entry already - Ditzy Girl Falls For Award Winning Doofus, Will Romance Blossom or Nerves Explode". Huh, maybe she'd have to work on that title there... "Well, Gakkun's a really sweet person... He cares for his friends, and he's really funny and considerate for everyone... He's such a gentleman." Her swooning wants to make Neru puke.

"A gentleman? He's only doing that because he likes you. He treats other people as if they massacred a whole village in their past life." Neru replies with a hint of disgust. "And you call him Gakkun?"

"Well... He doesn't mind. He likes me calling him that, even."

"Girl, that's a dead giveaway you like him. Affectionate nickname he insists on you calling him? Two-way bingo. You like him, he likes you, bam. Case closed." She slams the table in triumph, attracting a few looks their way.

"Huh? He likes me?" Lapis laughs as if Neru told a joke. "No, that's not true. He already has someone else in his mind, he's got no room for me..." She drops her head in sadness.

"Where'd you come up with that - oh, geez. You know what, you prove me wrong, you're the only one compatible with that doof after all." Neru sighs and stands up, running a hand through her hair coolly. "See ya. Best of luck."

Both of them are such doofs. She supposed that was why Lapis was the only one to fit with Gakupo.

...

"_They might be the worst couple in the making, but if you leave them be, you can see the sparks fly, without a doubt. I swear, leave them together by themselves and you'd run over something fairly unsightly..." _-Kagamine Len, "Not-So-Fortunate Earwitness"

...

"S'cuse me, coming through, emergency here! Make way!"

The blonde rushed through the crowd, panting as he made his way to the locker room. Geez, he was the top runner in school, couldn't he run any faster? Kagamine Len still had trouble thinking of how in the name of banana smoothies can he have left his freaking love letter to Haku in his locker like that! If someone comes across it, he'd be in the biggest trouble ever. Enough of his sister's yapping about it, but if someone like Neru ever caught hold onto it... Oh, hell on Earth as one would speak.

Along the way, he had a really bad feeling about it. Sure, it was his own locker. He's the top runner, he gets the best deals. Virtually no-one (besides that lock-picking pervert Akaito going through everyone's underwear, that creepy-ass stalker's definitely got a thing for him) would be able to get past that lock. He could just turn back, y'know? No-one would get it... Unless it was jutting out or something, in which case a mister itchy-fingers could dive in for the catch at any... given... moment...

The more he thought about it, the more his mind was set to it.

There it is! He made a quick turn and there it was, in all it's blue glory, the room to the boy's lockers. Doing a little victory jig, he reached toward the doorknob.

That's when he heard something rather... _suggestive._

"Mmph... o-oh, Gakt - _ahh_!"

Wait. What.

He scrambled and pressed his ear against the door rather uncomfortably, hyperventilating, no doubt, by the amount of puffy breaths escaping his lips and clouding his vision. Was that... No, he can't judge some noises just like that -

"Nngh... Lapis... _ahhhh_..."

Oh, gosh, no. His ears. He scrambled backwards and hit the wall. His mind clouded. No, that couldn't be. It was Gakupo, wasn't it? That guy making those breathy moans. And, ohh. How loud they were.

"Wait... G-Gakkun, I don't think I'm r-ready for this yet..."

Oh. Oh, Lordy. His brain must be throwing a Halloween fest in his ears. There was no way in hell, repeat, no way in all of hell that Gakupo was with Lapis. Making those noises. Not ready for this yet. He knew they were close, and they were fishy when they were alone together, what with their little kissy stuff they were doing at the back of the school the other day, but to come to - to _this_, of all things? No. Impossible.

"Shh... It's fine, Lapis. This'll be over soon - _ready_?"

"Ah... W-Wait - _ohhh... Mmh..._"

Oh, he could imagine in. He could imagine it, alright. There it was, the image happily seared into his mind and fueling all the agony he could possibly take. There it was, Lapis sprawled over a bench, panting, clutching the edges of it tightly, as Gakupo trailed light butterfly kisses down her neck, stroking her hair gently, the hand trailing lower and lower and -

"Mmh... _O-Oh_! Ahh, Gak-kun... _There, right there, you _got it..."

- holy mother of all things motherly, that escalated quickly. There was Gakupo, and Lapis, together, doing _th - th - that,_ Gakupo and Lapis, Gakupo and Lapis and Gakupo and Lapis and -

"_Nngh_... Lapis! Almost... _There_!"

_- Gakupo and Lapis and Gakupo and Lapis and -_

"Ahh! Gakupo! Hah... _oh - ahhhh..._"

His brain fizzled and backfired, sending him onto the ground, twitching and in the state of recovery as his brain tried to reboot from the backfire. He gasped for air, clawing the ground to drag himself to a place where there was more ventilation provided and he didn't have to think of Gakupo and Lapis _and Gakupo and Lapis and _-

His brain couldn't take it and went into total shutdown.

"Thanks again helping me out of that dress, Gakkun. I hate the clothes they expect us to perform onstage in, it's so tight - _oh!_ K-Kagamine! What happened?"

"Len? He looks like he's seen a ghost... Len? You alright?"

It was somewhere then his brain provided him with the memory of Lapis performing a song in a ridiculously tight-looking dress onstage during assembly as part of an event the school was holding.

Why the hell did she have to go to him, of all people, to remove that stinking dress? _Oh_, he's never going to recover from this...

...

"_He'd do anything to make her smile. Her smiles are different when she's with him. You can see joy like no other in her eyes when she's with that man. Every man ought to be jealous of the way he can do that._" -Aoki Merli, "Reignited Sunshine"

...

There was a suspicious boy in her sister's room and she didn't like it one bit.

"W-Wait, I can explain..." The boy in purple flailed ruthlessly, obviously flustered about the way things were going. She narrowed her eyes, pointing the rolling pin she held in her hand at him.

"Oh, let me explain for you," she said breezily, only fueling the obvious terror he felt. "You climbed in through the window," she pointed at the window, blue curtains fluttering with the wind. "and to my sister's room. You're the pervert my sister likes, aren't you? What're you trying to do, abduct her? She's no Juliet. I wish she were part Juliet, though, so you could kill yourself, being the Romeo you are."

The person is obviously stabbed through the gut and back with her words. "N-No..." He whimpered pathetically. "I heard she was sick, so I came to visit, but, uhh... I was afraid you wouldn't allow me entry, because you sounded so scary in Lapis' words, so I thought sneaking in to see her would be more romantic - I mean, better..."

"Uh huh. And which part of that is believable, our gallant young knight in sparkling armor?"

"Well, the starting is true, but the rest is complete baloney - uhm, I mean, uhh. Yeah."

She was ready to beat the purple guy over the head until he begged for mercy when her sister stirred in her sleep and opened her lavender eyes. "...hmm? Merli...? What's wrong?"

"Lapis!" the purple one cried out in relief, but cringed and ducked by Lapis' side when Merli stalked over to him in annoyance. "H-Help, Lapis! Your sister is mad!"

"Very perceptive. Any other conclusions to be made?"

"Merli, calm down," her sister reassured her, and turned to the purple knight, and - was she smiling? Despite her fever? She'd be grousing and grumbling, if anything... "Gakkun, thank you so much for visiting me... I'm really happy, I am..."

"Oh, no, thank you for giving me the chance to skip algebra class - uhh, yeah, it's my pleasure to visit my girlfriend, y'know? I ought to, anyway, since you're - "

"Wait. Girlfriend?" Merli said in surprise. She wasn't told of this. Lapis told her everything. Sure, he was her high school loved one but now she was in college. She thought her younger sister had gotten over such cheap emotions of love. She had her heart brokenby a sham of a man; there was no reason for Lapis to have the same treatment as well.

The both of them noticeably tensed up.

"Umm, yes," Lapis replied, still with that smile, albeit it being a little more shaky now wih Merli's declaration of shock. "I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you... I knew you would never approve of it, anyway... I... Uhh..."

"My name is Gakupo," the purple knight stood up, dipping his head into a polite bow. "Kamui Gakupo. I assure you that your sister is in safe hands. If I had to give everything up to save her, then I will."

"G-Gakupo!?" Lapis herself sounded surprised. Merli was, as well, but she masked it well. Narrowed sapphire hues clashed with firm cerulean ones.

"Is that so?" Merli questioned the boy. "With all your heart, you will protect my sister, no matter what."

His answer was firm, of no hesitation. "Indeed."

She persisted. "If I tore you limb to limb in exchange for a meeting with her. Are you willing for that?"

"No doubt." The serious gaze in his eyes had not once faltered.

"G..." She knew by her shaky voice that her sister was tearing up. "Gakupo..."

"Show me, then," Merli ordered, a final challenge. "To what extent does your affection for her reaches?"

For once, he hesitated. it wasn't due to the fact that he was short for affection for the girl. No, it was the actions he were to commit. Something that would never be reverse, could never be taken back. Once it was gone, it was gone. There would be no other chance.

_Show me, then. Show me how much is it that you love my sister. What it takes._

He turned to Lapis and the sick girl faltered, trembling lightly. He closed in on her and she let out a trembling sigh, almost wanting to back away from him. It was then he kneeled down beside her and took her hand into his own.

"Lapis. I... I've known you for a long time. Perhaps it isn't too long, but it seemed as if I didn't have worth of existence before you came into it." Gakupo drew in a shuddering breath, shooting Merli a glance before continuing, as if asking for her permission to, but not waiting for an answer. "You were everything to me. Seeing your smiles made me smile. You crying breaks my heart every time. I couldn't live down a day without thinking of your contagious smile."

"You helped me through everything. The exams that held me back. My best friend's death, and how you would stay with me. Through fire and water, you put up with all of the nonsense I could put you through. And I honestly, honestly couldn't be anymore grateful than I already am."

There was no stopping Lapis' tears, then. "G-Gakkun..."

"Aoki Lapis." Gakupo' stone was firm, but knowing. "I... I can't go on like this. It's been too long, far too long. I've held all these feelings inside of me, and I have to let them go, now. My feelings for you. The amount of love I feel for you - there's no way to describe that."

"Lapis, I love you. I love you, then, now and forevermore. So please..." He himself had a gentle smile on his face, as he wiped away the descending tears of her sister's. "When the time comes. You will, won't you? ...when the time comes, you'll accept the ring I'll slip through your finger?"

"O-Oh, _Gakupo_ - !" Her sister was outright crying right now, and she leaped straight into Gakupo's arms, bawling incomprehensibly all the way. "Gakupo, yes! Yes, I will, no matter what. I'll be with you. I love you, and that will never change. G-Gakupo..."

Merli smiled, having to see no more. She turns around and stalked back into the kitchen, leaving the two to be on their own.

Their mother was right when she said they had the tendency to grow up too fast... Definitely, Lapis is a different person altogether from before. She wasn't the timid, naïve girl who needed everyone to watch after her. She was more independent now - and with someone like him, there was no doubt her road would be a perfect one.

And it couldn't have been any better, really.

...

"_She loves him. He loves her. Is there anything else to say, really?_" -Shion Kaito, "Loved Then, Now and Forevermore"

...

He'd been watching them for a long time, as a spectator. No doubt that he had the first-class seats, among the others that progressed through their relationship with them.

He remembered the first day Gakupo had set his eyes on the young girl with hair like dew, and had said, with a sense of profoundness like no other, "Kaito, I think I'm in love."

It was that which was the first stepping stones to their relationship Together,

He would always fawn about how Lapis was the perfect girl for her - day by day, over and over and over, yet it never seemed to bore him. It was interesting at times, really, to listen to his best friend ramble on and on of the girl he supposedly would never be able to pursue a relationship with. Indeed, ultimately it was his sister who had to set him down on his own two feet and have him spark the beginning of their long-lasting relationship together. It was quite interesting, really. The two of them blindly loved each other, oblivious to the fact that the other liked them as well. It was like a dog chasing after his tail. Humorous, but all the more exciting and enjoyable.

The moment one sees them, it's a guarantee that one will know their relationship is surely one that will last forever, a true vow of "_till death do us part"_, perhaps even more so.

He'd been a quiet spectator and listener all the while. Truly, he wished them the best. When one asked what he thought of them, he'd say "there's nothing to think about them. It's as plain as plain can be." Which was and still is a completely accurate account of their love - it was simple, really, but held more than they themselves could ever understand.

He was happy for them, really. He'd admit that all the while he had been jealous of them, of how - of all people - his best friend managed himself a girl so perfect to him, and how he could be a much better boyfriend to the one Gakupo dated; it was horrid, at first - Gakupo could never understand, as he never allowed him to know. What did he understand? He would think. He's shallow. Unworthy. He doesn't deserve it. Not even the guilt he should feel if Kaito were to tell him the truth.

Everything came to an end when Kaito was hit by a car.

He knew it was the end. There was a light, and all the while he succumbed to it's beckoning, being drawn in closer and closer to it. It was warm, comforting, liberating him from all the negativity he could possibly wield for his friend. All the while there were wails, crying, of how he didn't deserve it, how he had to live to see more, how everyone loves him and wants him back, back, _back._

To him, most were empty words.

It came to the point that his best friend's grieving for him was legitimate and would scar him from the rest of his life was when he began rejecting everything, even Lapis. He was quite confused; idiot, you had that girl all to yourself now, why not you worship her instead of weeping over me?

Because his best friend, who had stuck with him all the while, who withstood with annoying tendencies, who accepted him for who he was, he was far more important than any girl could be, even the girl of his dreams.

It hurt. He was long dead and it should never had hurt anymore, but it did. The dull aching of where his heart should be. He could have never asked for a better friend, who put him, of all people, forward instead of the girl he finally had to his own.

He wanted to thank him, but he never could.

He still did, somehow.

There they were, on a slow pace towards the altar, holding hands and smiling to each other. He was dressed in a suit finely tailored just for him, and her a silky dress which trailed behind her. It was much more of a sight than any towering scenery could ever be. They were the perfect couple, finally together after years of hardships together, and they honestly could not have asked for a better ending.

When they kissed, the air felt crisp and warm, as if somehow, he still dwelled, watching their wedding with a smile on his face, cheering for the friend he could never replace, clapping along side the few chosen others attending this special occasion.

That day, holding hands, they trudged into the dark, damp graveyard to pay him a visit. They told him everything, how they progressed every since his death, how they would never have been had it not been thanks to him. And he sat there, listening, smiling, and how he wished to hold their hands in his own, to thank them, to, as he could never have asked for anything else.

And when they left, he, too, could at last, finally having fulfilled his wish of accompanying them until they seemed out their true happiness.

It was clear the two were meant to be together. A ditz of a boy who could barely take things seriously and a fine girl who had her heart taken by this very boy right from the beginning. It couldn't have worked out, and yet, it did.

Their love was simple like that, really, the minuscule amounts of sparks dictating the flames that are to burn.

...

sparks fly and flames cease, but in the end it's true love that always wins out.

Here's wishing Kamui Gakupo and Aoki Lapis the best of luck in their bright future to come.

* * *

A/N: The ending... I still am not sure how to fix it. Hopefully, it is satisfying enough. This has been edited after that tiring night. There was a horrible rant thing here before, but now it's all fine.

Don't be afraid to leave a review with your thoughts! Criticism on how to improve this is much loved, and, again, Cake, this one's for you.

Love!


End file.
